9-year-old Damori Miles dies in jump off Brooklyn apartment, may have been imitating video game

By MATTHEW LYSIAK and ALISON GENDAR

|DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS|

Apr 17, 2009 | 10:55 AM

A 9-year-old wrestling fan jumped off his Brooklyn apartment roof wearing a homemade parachute in a fatal imitation of his favorite video game character, friends said.

The broken body of Damori Miles was found on the ground outside the Albany Houses about 7 p.m. Tuesday.

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Wrapped around his body was the string and plastic bag he used for the parachute, police sources said. The boy died at Interfaith Medical Center an hour later.

"It's terrible. The kids try to imitate what they see and they think they can fly," said family friend Sumore Murrel, 29.

The third-grader was supposed to have a Tuesday night play date with Murrel's two children, Shakar, 11, and Kevin, 9, but never showed. "His older sister came knocking on the door looking for him at 7:30. She had no idea he was dead. None of us did," Murrel said.

It turned out the boy, who received special education instruction, had left his 10th floor apartment and walked up to the Crown Heights building's roof.

"He tried to do a swan dive like (Jeff Hardy) does in 'SmackDown.' That was his favorite game. He played it all the time," Shakar said.

"That was what he was trying to do. If I would have seen him up there, I would have told him not to do it."

The roof door was open Wednesday morning, and the alarm that should have gone off was broken, neighbors said.

"I was sitting inside and I heard a thump. I looked out my window and saw the boy on the ground. He was on his back and his clothes were ripped off," said Chiquita Jones, 25.

"The door to the roof should have been locked. Damori didn't have to die."

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Damori's mother told detectives she went to the store and returned to find her son on the ground, police sources said.

The tragedy prompted Murrel to rethink whether her kids can play the wrestling games.

"I need to keep a better eye on what they are playing or watching. Kids are so impressionable," she said.

Robert Zimmerman, a spokesman for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), said the video was designed for ages 13 and up and none of the characters use parachutes or jump off buildings.

"The death of Damori Miles is a tragedy and our condolences go out to his family," he said. "We should allow the authorities to conduct a full investigation... including insecure roof access, before conclusions are made about this unfortunate incident."